Montessori Buzz – June 6, 2023
Dear MA Families & Friends,
Family & Friends is Thursday; no after-school Extended Hours that day
We hope to see you at the Family & Friends event at Storybook Gardens on Thursday! There will be food for sale in the Village Square, or you can bring a picnic to enjoy.
REMINDER: There is no after-school Extended Hours programming at any location on Thursday so that our staff can join us for the event.
Changes to Extended Hours for 2023-2024
We’re making changes to our Early & Extended Hours program starting September 2023 to support staffing and program capacities across all locations.
- Occasional Use: We will no longer offer “Occasional Use” starting in September. Instead, when it’s needed, families may contact their child’s location by phone with an “Urgent Need Extended Hours Request”; if staffing allows, your child may use the Early & Extended Hours program at a cost of $30 per use. Invoices for this Urgent Need service will be provided at the end of each month.
- Annual: All annual registrations for the Early and Extended Hours program must be submitted by June 30, 2023. Payment is due in September.
- Monthly: Families who want care on a monthly basis must register no later than the 15th of the previous month (ie. Register for October by Sept. 15). We cannot guarantee the availability of space if registration is not received by the 15th.
We realize that the change to Occasional Use will impact families who have used that option of our Extended Hours program on a regular basis. However, each year we’ve found staffing Extended Hours to be increasingly challenging, especially in Toddler/Casa where we need to meet certain Ministry regulatory requirements for licensed locations. We hope that advance notice of these changes will give families enough time to make arrangements for the upcoming school year.
New this year: Submit your annual registration for Extended Hours or September 2023 before June 30 to reserve your place through this link: https://montessoriacademy.campbrainregistration.com/
Reminder: Gym Wear form for Elementary-JH
For students in Elementary and Junior High, please complete the PDF form linked below, and return it to Tameka at tbrown@montessori.on.ca on or before June 23. Reminder: we now accept cash, cheque, MasterCard, Visa, Amex or Apple Pay.
Tameka will have samples in the office until Wednesday, June 21. If you need to see sizes, please come in to see her. Otherwise, you can gauge your child/ren’s sizes on the form.
Elementary Lost & Found pickup
Elementary parents: please stop by the Elementary Courtyard next Monday and Tuesday, June 12 and 13, during pick-up to peruse lost items of clothing looking to be found.
Photos from the week
Casa trip to Kustermans
The Casa students had a sunny, fun time at Kustermans Adventure Farm on Friday.
Westmount Casa Butterfly hatching Monday
A miracle happened over lunch yesterday at Westmount. Thank you to William for bringing us your very hungry caterpillars! We have our very first Painted Lady Butterfly!
Video: Casa Butterfly art and lesson
It’s Butterfly season! Did you know that butterfly wings are covered in scales??? They are!!! That’s what gives them their beautiful patterns and colours. After having a little lesson on symmetry, Waterloo Casa drew patterns on our wings and used watercolour to paint them in bright colours!
Link to Instagram video: https://www.instagram.com/p/Cs88-X9ryiN/
Casa 3 Violinist
There was a violinist entertaining his friends in Casa 3 yesterday. Thank you for the music.
Westmount Casa Summer Safety lessons
Summer safety was a hot topic Monday! With the weather approaching, we thought it was a good time to talk about swim safety, bike safety and what is an emergency! Thank you to Matteo’s mom Cst. Bajsarowicz for coming to visit us today!
LE 2 Hanging Gardens of Babylon
LE2’s Year 3 students worked tirelessly on The Hanging Gardens of Babylon! (Look at that detail!)
LE anatomy lessons on human organs
LE2 student Ariana has been working on the human organs.
Fuzz Art
How cool is this project? The Year 6 students took famous works of art and re-created them with felt needling.
Upper Elementary Science Fair
It was our UE science fair last week! Thank you to the parents and friends who stopped by – and congratulations to our students for their hard work on these discoveries.
Junior High Market
Thank you to all of the families who joined us in the Elementary Courtyard last week for the Junior High Spring Market.
From the Community
London Fire Department 150th Anniversary Celebration
This year marks the London Fire Department’s 150th anniversary – a century and a half of proudly serving London as a professional fire department. To commemorate this milestone, the public is invited to the London Fire Department 150th Anniversary Celebration taking place on Saturday, June 10 from 1 to 4 p.m. at Earl Nichols Recreation Centre.
This free celebration will include demonstrations from various special teams, family-friendly games and activities, displays of historical artifacts and antique firefighting vehicles, as well as live music. Food and drinks will be available for purchase from local food trucks.
Find more details on Facebook: https://fb.me/e/A8rJmYhp
Introducing the Westmount Farmers Market!
There’s a new farmers market at the Westmount Mall. The market will be held every Saturday from 9 AM to 1 PM, starting in June 2023 at the Westmount Shopping Centre parking lot. The goal is to create a vibrant community hub for fresh and healthy food options in the Westmount area.
The market has spots set aside for not for profits and for youth entrepreneurs as well! For more information: Westmount Farmers Market Briefing Document (link PDF on Google Drive – external)
Follow the market on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/westmountfarmersmarket